Catholic school parents fear arrival of Common Core

Allentown Diocese will implement a version of new, controversial standards.

August 17, 2013|By Adam Clark, Of The Morning Call

Dave Herman wanted to enroll his daughters in a Catholic elementary school so they could learn in an intimate, traditional setting, where parents had as much input as possible.

He found that at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Roseto, where his daughters learned about faith and morality as well as math and English. The girls loved the school, and Herman considered the more than $3,000 annual tuition per student money well spent.

But three years later, as his oldest daughter is entering sixth grade, Herman is at odds with the school of about 140 students.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, along with the 42 other schools overseen by the Allentown Catholic Diocese in the Lehigh Valley region, is adopting aspects of the controversial Common Core standards, which emphasize critical thinking and career and college readiness.

In response, Herman and his wife, Cheryl, have decided to pull their daughters from Our Lady of Mount Carmel and teach them through a Catholic home-school program.

"As long as there is any Common Core in the diocese, we will not be going back there," Herman said, adding that other parents he knows also are considering home schooling because of the new standards.

Across the country, Common Core is causing the same concern among parents, who fear the standards — endorsed by the Obama administration — will dumb down Catholic school education and replace it with secular lessons no different from those at public schools.

The Allentown Diocese and National Catholic Educational Association maintain that the church has full control over its curriculum, intends to go above and beyond Common Core standards and won't sacrifice Catholic values.

"We want to take the best of the Common Core and in no way would we have looked to compromise our Catholic identity while implementing standards," said Philip Fromuth, superintendent of schools for the Allentown Diocese. "We're not looking at watering down our curriculum. We're only looking to strengthen our curriculum."

That promise isn't enough to sway Herman.

"The church is walking into this blindly thinking that they are going to have more freedom than they are," Herman said. "I think that's what's happening. They are walking into this with blinders on."

The standards

In 2008, the National Governors Association and Council of Chief State School Officers began working with educational experts, principals and teachers to identify the best academic standards among the varying criteria across the states.

The Common Core, a set of standards they developed to define what students are expected to know and do in each grade from kindergarten through graduation, was finalized in 2010.

Common Core does not define how teachers should teach and does not include a mandated reading list. Suggested texts are included, but schools are not obligated to use them and are encouraged to supplement Common Core standards with a content-rich curriculum.

States were told they could follow Common Core and change it as they saw fit, and Pennsylvania, along with 44 other states, agreed to do so.

In March, the state Board of Education formally adopted Common Core, which public school districts were supposed to implement July 1. Private schools, including those in the Allentown diocese, are under no obligation to adopt it.

Mounting political pressure has delayed the mandate in Pennsylvania, though the state Department of Education is advising districts to implement the standards. The Allentown Diocese plans to proceed with its version of Common Core, as does the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, which was among the first to adopt the standards two years ago.

Fueled by conservative radio commentator Glenn Beck and tea party supporters, criticism of Common Core has reached fever pitch in recent months. Many see it as federal intrusion into local schools. Others say it restricts teachers' freedom.

The state Senate is scheduled to hold a hearing on the standards Aug. 29.

The Philadelphia Archdiocese heard few concerns from parents after implementing the standards in the 2011-12 school year, said Jacqueline Coccia, superintendent for elementary schools.

But since Pennsylvania's adoption of Common Core hit the media, the archdiocese has fielded many questions, she said, and it has had to educate parents about the standards. The changes aren't dramatic, she noted. Some skills, such as fractions, are taught a year earlier than in the past. Others are taught a year later.

Many critics don't fully understand what Common Core is, said Sister Dale McDonald, director of public policy and research for the National Catholic Education Association.

"One of the huge problems that's out there since this has become so politicized is that people don't know the difference between standards and curriculum," McDonald said. "A standard simply says what you should be able to do: Read the text and explain the details of the text and how they support an opinion. Whether you read Text A or Text C depends on the school or the teacher."